Bacon, NathanielAn Historical Discourse of the Uniformity of the Government of England . . . From the first Times till the Reigne of Edward the third [with] A Continuation . . . Until the end of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. ?ESTC R473664 [not R8530 or R10585] Printed for Matthew Walbancke at Grays-Inn-Gate [imprints vary]. A possibly unique printing of the work establishing the reputation of Bacon, Francis Bacon's half-brother, the constitutional history of England whose early publication was suppressed, leading to the still disputed claim of Selden's association. Contemporary calf, rebacked, rubbed, the rear joint cracking but firm, else a good copy, with the bookplate of John Francis Neylan; the Taussig copy. Printed for Matthew Walbancke at Grays-Inn-Gate [imprints vary], London, 1647 & 1651.

CORBET, RICHARDCertain Elegant Poems, Written by Dr. Corbet, Bishop of Norwich London: Printed by R. Cotes for Andrew Crooke, 1647 - Small octavo, modern red full morocco by Lloyd, gilt rules, decorations, turn ins and lettering, t.e.g., others untrimmed. First and final blanks present. Title within a border of printer's ornaments. ? The rare first published work of Richard Corbet (1582-1635), bishop in the Church of England, who was known for his wit and his entertaining sermons. Corbet was a friend of many, including John Donne and Ben Jonson. This collection of over 20 poems, which includes his "Fairies Farewell," was edited by John Donne, Jr. Edges a little rubbed; fine copy. Wing C-6270 (1st edition); ESTC R22525; Hayward 90; NCBEL I, 1306 [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Hall, JosephThe Works of Joseph Hall B. of Norwich. With a Table now added to the Same London: Printed by M. Flesher for Ed. Bruster, 1647. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. In brown leather boards, 9" x 13 1/2" x 3 1/2", with six raised bands and title label to spine. Rebound at some point with new endpapers and spine, possibly new boards. See photo for table of contents. Writing and bookplate to front pastedown. Scattered stains here and there but majority of text block clean and bright. Binding solid, square, and strong. A very well preserved book after 3 1/2 centuries.

Featley, Daniel.[one-line in Greek transliterated as] Katabaptisai kataptysesoi. [then] The dippers dipt. Or, the Anabaptists duck'd and plung'd over head and ears, at a disputation in Southwark. Also a large and full discourse of their 1. originall. 2. severall sorts. 3. peculiar errours. 4. high attempts against the state. 5. capitall punishments. London: Pr. for N.B. and Richard Royston 4to (19.7 cm, 7.75"). [16], 186, [2], 258 pp.; 3 plts. (1 incl. in pagination).. 1647 A Calvinist controversialist attacks the English Baptists in Featly's best-known published work, arising from his participation in one of the great public religious debates of the 17th century. The present example is the fifth edition, "augmented with severall Speeches delivered before this Assembly of Divines [and] the famous History of the Frantick anabaptists, their wild Preachings and Practices in Germany," and illustrated with => three plates: a tipped-in frontispiece portrait of the Rev. Featley (engraved by William Marshall), an allegorically rendered depiction of Featley's funeral effigy, and => an irreverently drawn rogues' gallery of the different types of Anabaptists. The section of speeches has a separate title-page, noting that the printing was done by M.F. for Richard Royston in 1646, with the pagination and signatures of this section being continuous with the first; the final portion also has a separate title-page, giving a printing date of 1647. Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of the Charles Holbrook Library, Pacific School of Religion (properly released). Contemporary mottled calf, framed and panelled in blind double fillets, central panel of plain calf with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; spine (and spine label), joints, and edges rubbed, front panel with areas of chipping, front joint just starting from head. Ex-library as above; spine with paper shelving label, front pastedown lifted and partially excised with bookplate affixed to board; back pastedown also lifted, with library slip affixed and pocket on rear board. Front fly-leaf and frontispiece with outer edges ragged, both the former and the title-page institutionally rubber-stamped, fly-leaf and title-page with early inked ownership inscription. Occasional smudges and small edge nicks. The necessary description suggests a "poor soul" of a book ? however, this isn't one.

[Quran]. Ryer, André du.L'Alcoran de Mahomet. Translaté d'Arabe en François. Paris, Antoine de Sommaville, 1647. 1647. 4to. (10), 648 [but: 598], (4) pp. Contemp. full French speckled calf with gilt tooling and title label on spine, dentelles on inner covers. Rare first edition of "the oldest complete translation of the Qur'an into a European vernacular" (Encylopedia of the Qur'an), in a handsome copy. Du Ryer's work served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an into English, German, Dutch, and Russian, and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. Du Ryer was a celebrated linguist and had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he studied classical Arabic. His introduction briefly summarizes the Muslim religion for Christian readers, noting customs such as Ramadan, circumcision, the practice of having up to four wives, the significance of Mecca and Medina, Sufi brotherhoods and wandering ascetics, and finally the Islamic recognition of Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God. A prayer printed in Arabic is included on the verso of leaf e2. - "Du Ryer's translation of the Qur'an [...] became an unparalleled literary success [...] The easy availability of the Qur'an accompanied a newfound interest in the Orient; additionally, du Ryer's translation lacked the polemical tone of previous editions, an orientation which arose mainly in ecclesiastical contexts. Du Ryer used Islamic commentaries such as al-Bayawi's Anwar al-tanzil, the Tafsir al-Jalalayan by al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyu i (d. 911/1505), or an excerpt from al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) great commentary made by l-Raghi l-Tunisi (d. 715/1315) entitled al-Tanwir fi l-tafsir, quite casually in his translation, merely noting them in the margins. The deprecatory tone present in the introductory chapter, 'Sommaire de la religion des Turcs,' can be understood as an attempt at camouflage (cf. Hamilton and Richard, André du Ryer, 94f)" (Encyclopedia of the Qur'an). - Extremities and joints professionally repaired. Internally fresh and clean, a very good copy with 19th-c. engr. bookplate of Sir Robert Sheffield, Bart., on front pastedown (one of the Sheffield baronets, likely the 4th, 1786-1862). Chauvin X, p. 126. Schnurrer 427. Fück 74. Brunet III, 1309. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an V, 347.

Quran]. Ryer, André du.L'Alcoran de Mahomet. Translaté d'Arabe en François. Paris, Antoine de Sommaville, 1647. - 4to. (10), 648 [but: 598], (4) pp. Contemp. half calf with giltstamped spine. Rare first edition of "the oldest complete translation of the Qur'an into a European vernacular" (Encylopedia of the Qur'an). Du Ryer's work served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an into English, German, Dutch, and Russian, and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. Du Ryer was a celebrated linguist and had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he studied classical Arabic. His introduction briefly summarizes the Muslim religion for Christian readers, noting customs such as Ramadan, circumcision, the practice of having up to four wives, the significance of Mecca and Medina, Sufi brotherhoods and wandering ascetics, and finally the Islamic recognition of Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God. A prayer printed in Arabic is included on the verso of leaf e2. - "Du Ryer's translation of the Qur'an [.] became an unparalleled literary success [.] The easy availability of the Qur'an accompanied a newfound interest in the Orient; additionally, du Ryer's translation lacked the polemical tone of previous editions, an orientation which arose mainly in ecclesiastical contexts. Du Ryer used Islamic commentaries such as al-Bayawi'sAnwar al-tanzil, the Tafsir al-Jalalayan by al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyu i (d. 911/1505), or an excerpt from al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) great commentary made by l-Raghi l-Tunisi (d. 715/1315) entitled al-Tanwir fi l-tafsir, quite casually in his translation, merely noting them in the margins. The deprecatory tone present in the introductory chapter, 'Sommaire de la religion des Turcs,' can be understood as an attempt at camouflage (cf. Hamilton and Richard, André du Ryer, 94f)" (Encyclopedia of the Qur'an). - Some waterstaining throughout; occasional worming; more pronounced edge damage near end. Provenance: 1714 ms. ownership (partly stricken out) of the Castelnaudary Capuchins, dissolved in 1789; acquired by the notary J. L. E. Bauzit of Castelnaudary (his ownership on title and flyleaf). Chauvin X, p. 126. Schnurrer 427. Fück 74. Brunet III, 1309. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an V, 347. [Attributes: First Edition]

[Quran]. Ryer, André du.L'Alcoran de Mahomet. Translaté d'Arabe en François. Paris, Antoine de Sommaville, 1647. 1647. 4to. (10), 648 [but: 598], (4) pp. Contemp. half calf with giltstamped spine. Rare first edition of "the oldest complete translation of the Qur'an into a European vernacular" (Encylopedia of the Qur'an). Du Ryer's work served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an into English, German, Dutch, and Russian, and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. Du Ryer was a celebrated linguist and had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he studied classical Arabic. His introduction briefly summarizes the Muslim religion for Christian readers, noting customs such as Ramadan, circumcision, the practice of having up to four wives, the significance of Mecca and Medina, Sufi brotherhoods and wandering ascetics, and finally the Islamic recognition of Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God. A prayer printed in Arabic is included on the verso of leaf e2. - "Du Ryer's translation of the Qur'an [...] became an unparalleled literary success [...] The easy availability of the Qur'an accompanied a newfound interest in the Orient; additionally, du Ryer's translation lacked the polemical tone of previous editions, an orientation which arose mainly in ecclesiastical contexts. Du Ryer used Islamic commentaries such as al-Bayawi'sAnwar al-tanzil, the Tafsir al-Jalalayan by al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyu i (d. 911/1505), or an excerpt from al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) great commentary made by l-Raghi l-Tunisi (d. 715/1315) entitled al-Tanwir fi l-tafsir, quite casually in his translation, merely noting them in the margins. The deprecatory tone present in the introductory chapter, 'Sommaire de la religion des Turcs,' can be understood as an attempt at camouflage (cf. Hamilton and Richard, André du Ryer, 94f)" (Encyclopedia of the Qur'an). - Some waterstaining throughout; occasional worming; more pronounced edge damage near end. Provenance: 1714 ms. ownership (partly stricken out) of the Castelnaudary Capuchins, dissolved in 1789; acquired by the notary J. L. E. Bauzit of Castelnaudary (his ownership on title and flyleaf). Chauvin X, p. 126. Schnurrer 427. Fück 74. Brunet III, 1309. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an V, 347.

RUMPHIUS (RUMPH), Georg Everard.Thesaurus imaginum piscium testaceorum; ... ut et cochlearum; ... quibus accedunt conchylia, ... denique mineralia; ...The Hague, Pieter de Hondt, 1739. Large folio (44.5 x 27 cm). With an engraved title-page, engraved portrait of the author, and 60 numbered engraved plates with hundreds of figures drawn by Maria Sibylla Merian coloured in an early hand. Recased in contemporary sprinkled calf, gold-tooled board edges. Rebacked with a gold-tooled spine. Landwehr, VOC 951 note; Wood, p. 546; cf. E. Reitsma, Maria Sibylla Merian, pp. 207-210. Second Latin edition of a beautiful pictorial record of one of the finest early collections of East Indian marine specimens, with scientifically accurate engravings drawn by Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) apparently in the year of the death of the owner Georg Everard Rumphius (1627/28-1702). The engraved title-page and 60 illustration plates are beautifully and subtly coloured by hand in a wide variety of colours. The book excludes vertebrate fish but shows crustaceans, sea urchins, sand-dollars, starfish, shellfish, barnacles and coral, along with crystals, minerals, amber, fossils and even some man-made artefacts, such as axe heads. Some plates show one large figure, others more than twenty small ones. Rumphius, a German physician and naturalist, worked for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from 1652 to his death, mostly on Ambon in the Moluccas. The illustrations never bore Merian's name (only those of the engravers), but she mentioned them in a 1702 letter, Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach saw them at her house in 1711 and wrote that she drew them, and her drawings survive in St Petersburg. With a marginal tear in plate XLIX, but further in very good condition and wholly untrimmed, giving generous margins. Beautifully coloured plates of crustaceans, shells, etc. that formed a landmark in the development of scientific illustration for natural history.

Featley, Daniel.[one-line in Greek transliterated as] Katabaptisai kataptysesoi. [then] The dippers dipt. Or, the Anabaptists duck'd and plung'd over head and ears, at a disputation in Southwark. Also a large and full discourse of their 1. originall. 2. severall sorts. 3. peculiar errours. 4. high attempts against the state. 5. capitall punishments. London: Pr. for N.B. and Richard Royston 4to (19.7 cm, 7.75"). [16], 186, [2], 258 pp.; 3 plts. (1 incl. in pagination).. 1647 A Calvinist controversialist attacks the English Baptists in Featly's best-known published work, arising from his participation in one of the great public religious debates of the 17th century. The present example is the fifth edition, "augmented with severall Speeches delivered before this Assembly of Divines [and] the famous History of the Frantick anabaptists, their wild Preachings and Practices in Germany," and illustrated with => three plates: a tipped-in frontispiece portrait of the Rev. Featley (engraved by William Marshall), an allegorically rendered depiction of Featley's funeral effigy, and => an irreverently drawn rogues' gallery of the different types of Anabaptists. The section of speeches has a separate title-page, noting that the printing was done by M.F. for Richard Royston in 1646, with the pagination and signatures of this section being continuous with the first; the final portion also has a separate title-page, giving a printing date of 1647. Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of the Charles Holbrook Library, Pacific School of Religion (properly released). Contemporary mottled calf, framed and panelled in blind double fillets, central panel of plain calf with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; spine (and spine label), joints, and edges rubbed, front panel with areas of chipping, front joint just starting from head. Ex-library as above; spine with paper shelving label, front pastedown lifted and partially excised with bookplate affixed to board; back pastedown also lifted, with library slip affixed and pocket on rear board. Front fly-leaf and frontispiece with outer edges ragged, both the former and the title-page institutionally rubber-stamped, fly-leaf and title-page with early inked ownership inscription. Occasional smudges and small edge nicks. The necessary description suggests a "poor soul" of a book — however, this isn't one.

[CLEVELAND, JOHN]The Character of a London-Diurnalll: With Several Select Poems: By the Same Author [London:] Printed in the Year, 1647, 1647. Third edition, one of at least seven editions published in 1647; this one contains 18 poems and has the running head "Poems" on page 7. Wing C-4663; Hayward 92 (also an edition of 1647); NCBEL I, 1304. Edges of the title slightly browned; fine copy.. Octavo, modern red full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, gilt lozenge on the upper and lower boards, gilt lettering, a.e.g. The scarce first book John Cleveland (1613-1658) - "the metaphysical reductio ad absurdum" (Hayward) - one of the most popular poets of his era. It went through several editions beginning in 1644. The 18 poems are preceded by Cleveland's acerbic essay on the character of newspapers, then in their infancy: "A Diurnall is a puny Chronicle, scarce pin-feathered with the wings of time: It is a historie in Sippets; the English Iliads in a nut-shell; the Apocryphall Parliaments book of Maccabees in single sheets." Cleveland mocks the pseudonyms used by writers, accuses them of scheming and spreading lies, and compares them to Don Quixote: "Thus the Quixotes of this Age fight with the Windmill of their own heads; quell Monsters of their own creation, make plots, and then discover them . . ." Cleveland's essay on newspapers incited a pamphlet war that continued for a few years. Bookplate of Robert S. Pirie on the front free endpaper.